VISIT Anchorage and its Alaskan
delegation were in Australia last
week, joined for the first time
by small ship operator Alaskan
Dream Cruises.
The team zipped through
Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney,
training around 140 agents before
heading across the ditch to
Auckland in New Zealand.
Marsha Barton, Visit Anchorage
tourism sales manager told CW
the increase in capacity in Alaska
by lines (such as Princess Cruises)
was due to strong demand.
“The cruise ships wouldn’t be
coming and they wouldn’t be
sending more ships if they didn’t
think they could fill them…I think
we can honestly say that judging
by all the ships that they’re
sending, business is very good.”
The Anchorage season runs mid-
May to mid-Sep, during which
most of the lodgings are “pretty
much at capacity.
“We’d really like to see
develop…late season into early
winter and then late winter into
spring travel,” Barton said.
Pictured in Brisbane at the
Flight Centre office are: Corey
Marshall, Canuckiwi (representing
Visit Anchorage from 01 Jan); Lou
Larsson, Infinity Xtra; Tia Froehle,
Visit Anchorage; Heather Dudick,
Alaska Railroad; Marsha Barton,
Visit Anchorage; Michelle Glass,
Alaskan Dream Cruises and Kyle
McDonnell, Major Marine.
